Terrorism

Homeland Security wants to track ‘media influencers’ worldwide

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is seeking contractors who can compile a searchable database of “media influencers” that will allow the agency to monitor social media and traditional news sources.

Apr 9, 2018 7:00 AM CDT

Jurors acquit widow of Pulse Nightclub gunman

Federal jurors in Orlando, Florida, on Friday acquitted the widow of Pulse Nightclub gunman Omar Mateen on a charge of aiding her husband in the June 2016 attack that left 49 people dead. Jurors acquitted Noor Salman after deliberating more than 11 hours, report the New York Times, the Washington…

Mar 30, 2018 10:24 AM CDT

Hidden microphone was reason for defense lawyers quitting USS Cole bombing case

The Miami Herald has learned why three civilian defense lawyers resigned from representing their Guantanamo client, the accused mastermind of the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000. The newspaper obtained a 15-page declassified prosecution filing that said the lawyers resigned after discovering a microphone in their special client meeting…

Mar 8, 2018 10:30 AM CST

Beirut barracks bombing victims and their families are awarded $920M judgment against Iran

Updated: A federal judge has awarded a $920 million default judgment to injured soldiers and to family members of service members who died in the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut.

Mar 2, 2018 1:08 PM CST

Arrests are a possibility for 2 defense lawyers who quit USS Cole case over classified issue

A Guantanamo judge has ordered prosecutors to draft writs of attachment for two civilian defense lawyers who quit the USS Cole terrorism case over a classified issue involving compromised attorney-client privilege.

Feb 14, 2018 4:16 PM CST

Trump praises Gorsuch and highlights judicial picks in his State of the Union speech

President Donald Trump acknowledged Justice Neil M. Gorsuch as he touted his judicial picks in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday.

Jan 31, 2018 8:49 AM CST

Experts say Justice Department manipulated statistics on foreign-born terrorists

Seventy-three percent of people convicted of international terrorism-related charges since Sept. 11, 2001, were foreign-born, according to a report released Tuesday. Some experts, however, criticize the statistics, report the Washington Post and the New York Times. Karen Greenberg, director of Fordham University’s Center on National Security, says the statistics included…

Jan 17, 2018 9:09 AM CST

House rejects privacy limits in voting to reauthorize new warrantless surveillance law

The U.S. House of Representatives rejected privacy limits on Thursday when it approved a six-year extension of the law that permits warrantless surveillance of foreign targets that can also sweep up Americans’ communications. The bill reauthorizing Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act goes next to the Senate, where…

Jan 12, 2018 9:14 AM CST

Libyan militant is convicted of terrorism in Benghazi attacks but is acquitted of murder

A Libyan militia leader was convicted Tuesday in Washington, D.C., on terrorism charges in the 2012 Benghazi attacks, but he was acquitted of murder. Jurors convicted Ahmed Abu Khattala on four charges in the attacks and acquitted him on 14 other charges, report the Washington Post and the New York…

Nov 28, 2017 4:17 PM CST

Pentagon defers contempt sentence of chief defense counsel in Guantanamo defense ‘revolt’

A Pentagon official has deferred the contempt-of-court sentence of Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker, the lead defense counsel in the case of a Guantanamo Bay detainee that caused a revolt by defense lawyers. According to McClatchy, Baker had been sentenced to 21 days of confinement to quarters—in Guantanamo, a trailer—after…

Nov 3, 2017 6:23 PM CDT

ABA president: Justice system protections are a critical part of response to terrorist tragedy

ABA President Hilarie Bass is calling for adherence to the rule of law following the terrorist attack that killed eight people and wounded 12 on Tuesday in New York City.

Nov 2, 2017 10:40 AM CDT

Trump backs away from idea of Gitmo trial for terror suspect, calls for end to diversity lottery

President Donald Trump called for harsh punishment, quick justice and an end to the diversity visa lottery program on Wednesday as he criticized the Manhattan terrorism suspect accused of killing eight people by driving a truck on a bicycle path one day earlier.

Nov 2, 2017 8:30 AM CDT

Chief defense lawyer for Gitmo military commissions is sentenced for contempt

A Guantanamo judge has imposed a contempt sentence of 21 days’ confinement on the Marine general who is chief defense counsel for the military commissions there. The judge, Air Force Col. Vance Spath, found Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker in contempt for disobeying his orders in the case of a…

Nov 2, 2017 8:00 AM CDT

Gitmo lawyers’ resignation over classified issue is part of defense ‘revolt’ in USS Cole case

Three civilian lawyers have quit their defense of the man accused of orchestrating the al-Qaida attack on the USS Cole, part of a “defense revolt” in the case, according to a report by the Miami Herald. The reason for the resignation is highly classified, but it involves compromised attorney-client privilege…

Oct 31, 2017 3:56 PM CDT

Judge is informed she is on a terrorist list; was it a random selection?

A Chicago judge says a security supervisor at the Indianapolis airport informed her during a mid-October trip that she was on a known terrorist list. Judge Yolande Bourgeois tells NBC Chicago the designation resulted in a full patdown, a search of her suitcase, and a demand that she turn on…

Oct 27, 2017 8:00 AM CDT